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Book report
Jan. 29th, 2016 04:01 pmMy Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem - A fan I know once said, “Happiness is a new Star Wars movie.” That may be true, but for me happiness is also a new Gloria Steinem book. This book was so damn good. I delighted in getting up 10-20 minutes early and reading Gloria’s wisdom. In this book, she reflects on over 4 decades spent crisscrossing the US and the world, meeting with people, organizing people, campaigning. She shares anecdotes and wisdom. Gloria is positive, intelligent, and optimistic despite everything. She’s already Inspired me to get active with my community. Grade: A
Snake by Kate Jennings – A short novel taking place in Australia a few decades ago. It’s the story of a husband and wife – the husband is loving, the wife is full of anger at her limited role in society. Jennings is a vivid writer, but I didn’t feel attached to any of the characters. Grade: C+
Red Water by Judith Freeman – Historical fiction at its best! This is a novel based on true events. In the 1860’s, a Mormon patriarch is involved in the massacre of many innocent people. This novel tells the story of three of his wives. I loved the layered, complex characters and the western setting. And the fact that the book is a page-turner. Grade: B+
Not Like Other Boys by Marlene Fanta Shyer and Christopher Shyer – I stumbled upon this book by accident, at the library, and decided to give it a go. Published 20 years ago, it is a memoir by a mother and son struggling to accept the son’s homosexuality. The topic and story definitely interested me – the kid is picked on for not being masculine enough, the mom loves him but really does not want a gay son, both of them need to overcome her embarrassment and his self-hatred. And although you know from the get-go that both of them basically do succeed, parts of it are hard to read and you definitely realize that the book was published 20 years ago. When reflecting back on someone he knew as a kid, Christopher tells us that today the man is a “practicing homosexual”. (Um, a term you don’t hear too much. “Practicing heterosexual”, anyone?) Little things like that remind you of the deep homophobia both authors are dealing with. Their struggle and story did keep my interest. Grade: B-
There Is No App for Happiness by Max Strom – This was basically a self-improvement book about how our hyper-technological and wired world won’t make you happy and you need to cultivate practices that will make you aware and content. The author posed several good questions, one of which really spoke to me: “Are your ethics the same when you’re feeling stressed and angry as they are when you are calm and happy?” One downside is that he spends a lot of time talking about yoga, meditation, and breathing – certainly all good practices, but towards the end that section got kinda overkill. Grade: B-
Books I Started Reading and Didn’t Finish:
I usually don’t include this section because there are many books which I read 30-50 pages of before deciding not to waste my time anymore. But interestingly, I tried to read the best seller “Girl on the Train” on my e-reader, but I kept hitting technical problems. Even though I had downloaded it onto the e-reader beforehand – and even though I had read e-reader books on an airplane before – I just couldn’t get it up on my screen this last time. When I had wifi again, I was able to read a few more pages and then couldn’t. But you know what? By then I was surely at least 30 pages into it, I remembered Ann hadn’t loved the book that much, and decided I was fine without it.
Snake by Kate Jennings – A short novel taking place in Australia a few decades ago. It’s the story of a husband and wife – the husband is loving, the wife is full of anger at her limited role in society. Jennings is a vivid writer, but I didn’t feel attached to any of the characters. Grade: C+
Red Water by Judith Freeman – Historical fiction at its best! This is a novel based on true events. In the 1860’s, a Mormon patriarch is involved in the massacre of many innocent people. This novel tells the story of three of his wives. I loved the layered, complex characters and the western setting. And the fact that the book is a page-turner. Grade: B+
Not Like Other Boys by Marlene Fanta Shyer and Christopher Shyer – I stumbled upon this book by accident, at the library, and decided to give it a go. Published 20 years ago, it is a memoir by a mother and son struggling to accept the son’s homosexuality. The topic and story definitely interested me – the kid is picked on for not being masculine enough, the mom loves him but really does not want a gay son, both of them need to overcome her embarrassment and his self-hatred. And although you know from the get-go that both of them basically do succeed, parts of it are hard to read and you definitely realize that the book was published 20 years ago. When reflecting back on someone he knew as a kid, Christopher tells us that today the man is a “practicing homosexual”. (Um, a term you don’t hear too much. “Practicing heterosexual”, anyone?) Little things like that remind you of the deep homophobia both authors are dealing with. Their struggle and story did keep my interest. Grade: B-
There Is No App for Happiness by Max Strom – This was basically a self-improvement book about how our hyper-technological and wired world won’t make you happy and you need to cultivate practices that will make you aware and content. The author posed several good questions, one of which really spoke to me: “Are your ethics the same when you’re feeling stressed and angry as they are when you are calm and happy?” One downside is that he spends a lot of time talking about yoga, meditation, and breathing – certainly all good practices, but towards the end that section got kinda overkill. Grade: B-
Books I Started Reading and Didn’t Finish:
I usually don’t include this section because there are many books which I read 30-50 pages of before deciding not to waste my time anymore. But interestingly, I tried to read the best seller “Girl on the Train” on my e-reader, but I kept hitting technical problems. Even though I had downloaded it onto the e-reader beforehand – and even though I had read e-reader books on an airplane before – I just couldn’t get it up on my screen this last time. When I had wifi again, I was able to read a few more pages and then couldn’t. But you know what? By then I was surely at least 30 pages into it, I remembered Ann hadn’t loved the book that much, and decided I was fine without it.
